


perspective

by sayohjna



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Can be platonic or romantic, F/F, Mild Angst, Role Reversal, Will add tags as I go, i really didnt think the tags thru rip, minecraft is symbolic of the struggles of sisterhood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2020-08-20 16:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20230927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayohjna/pseuds/sayohjna
Summary: Sayo wakes up in a world very different than her own. Now she has to figure out how to interact with her older sister.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have too much of this planned and not enough of it written so let's see how long this lasts....

A wave of exhaustion hits Sayo as she opens the front door. Not that she wasn't tired before, a whole saturday of helping Marina out at CiRCLE had wiped her out pretty good. She didn't even get time to recover from the previous week of school. 

“This skeleton is totally unboppin’!! Help me kill it!”

Sayo frowns at the sound of her sister’s voice. That's definitely Hina, isn't it? What could she be talking about?

“Yeah-yeah-yeah! Let's go!!” 

Hina is in the living room, playing some video game she seemed to be totally absorbed in. She's got her headphones on, which explains the random talking. Must be a call with some of the other band girls. But knowing Hina, she would probably still manage to spot Sayo in a heartbeat. 

Silently praying for a miracle, she walks lightly toward the stairs. Of course, nothing gets by Hina, not even miracles. 

“Onee-chan, hey!” she says excitedly. “You wanna play Minecraft with me and Lisa-chi and Rin-Rin?”

“Huh… No thank you, maybe later. Isn't Imai-san wary of video games, though?” Now that she's been spotted, Sayo actually doesn't mind talking to Hina. 

“Nah, I think it's just Neo Fantasy Online that she’s bad at. We were playing that earlier, but now Ako-chan is offline ‘cause Tomo-chin told her to go to bed. So we're in Rin-Rin’s Minecraft mansion! With stone bricks and everything!”

“Ah… That's pretty cool.” Sayo honestly didn't know much about Minecraft, except it was the game Rinko played the most after NFO. “Listen, Hina, I'm pretty tired. Did mom cook anything for us? I can just reheat it.”

“Yeah! There's stir fry in the kitchen!”

“Thank you,” Sayo says. She wanders into the kitchen to find the stir fry nearly gone. Huh. Whatever, she’s not hungry anyway. 

From the living room, Sayo can hear Hina saying “Whaaat? What do you mean you heard all that?” A pause, and then, “Lisa-chi, stop laughing!”

As she trudges up the stairs, Sayo can feel her eyes closing already. She wasn't lying just to not have to play Minecraft with Hina-- Truly, Sayo is exhausted. 

Sure, she's gotten closer with her sister lately, but Hina is still Hina. Her sunny disposition and confidence throws Sayo off, even if they've begun to understand each other better. It's overwhelming and stressful to be around such a different type of person. But Hina isn't the only thing stressing Sayo out. 

Socializing is hard. School is hard. Band practice is… not hard from a technical perspective, but draining nonetheless. Maybe a break would do Sayo some good, but she hates to neglect responsibilities even in favour of her own mental health. 

Finally, Sayo finds herself in front of the door to her bedroom, and she opens it to be greeted with a dark, homey place that always seemed to comfort her. 

Sayo’s room is soothing and comfortable. The calmness makes her feel safe. Hina always said it was ‘Strange but boppin’! Just like Onee-chan!’ while their mom scolded her for keeping such a ‘dreary atmosphere’. But to Sayo, her room is the perfect place for her to de-stress. 

Her thoughts shift to Hina again. How does that girl manage everything and keep a smile on her face throughout? She never seemed to have any stress whatsoever. 

Sayo sometimes wondered what it'd be like to be born the younger sister. Her life would be so different, but maybe it'd be easier. Is that why Hina can cope with things, why she can laugh off her problems and come at them with a hopeful attitude? Maybe so, but part of Sayo knows it's just their different personalities. 

That still doesn't stop her from wishing, though. As Sayo closes her eyes, her last remaining thought was of an intense curiousity she couldn't describe with words. 

-

Sayo’s alarm wakes her up at the same time as always, at exactly 7:30AM. Another day of the same things, the same burdens… At least she knows how to deal with it by now.

Reluctantly, Sayo gets out of bed and gets dressed. Oddly enough, she doesn't remember putting on her pyjamas last night. Hadn't she just crashed on her bed as soon as she got upstairs? But she's too tired to question the mysterious outfit change, so she heads downstairs to eat breakfast. 

As soon as Sayo walks into the kitchen, she hears probably the strangest thing she has ever heard in her life. 

“Hey, Sayo-chi!”

That was unmistakably Hina’s voice. Sayo stands still for a moment to process everything. Nobody has ever called her Sayo-chi before, or any cutesy nicknames really. Not even Ako or Hagumi would try to pull that off. So why would Hina, her own sister that always refers to her as ‘Onee-chan’ without fail, be saying something like that? Plus it's definitely way earlier than Hina ever gets up. The whole situation is baffling. 

“Hellooo? Sayo-chi, are you even awake?”

“Ah… yes, I am.” Sayo replies cautiously. 

Hina giggles. “Oh, good! Don't make me worry about you like that!” She waves Sayo over, who sits down next to her. 

“Why are you up so early?” Sayo blurts out. Shit, she didn't mean to sound so accusatory. 

“Whaaat? This is a normal time to be awake, isn't it? But anyway, I woke up at six to work on my project.”

“Project?” 

“Yeah, for Pastel Palettes! They wanted me to design the poster for our upcoming show. Hey, are you coming?”

“Uhh…” Sayo’s head goes kinda fuzzy. She doesn't remember Hina being assigned to design a poster for her band’s next show, or even a next show existing. Just two days ago, Hina was complaining about being bored because Pastel Palettes wasn't planning any events. 

“Oh, wait, it's on a Tuesday. That's when Roselia practices, right? Ahaha, Yukina-chan will be mad if you're late!”

“Yeah, I guess she will.” A nagging feeling begins to develop in Sayo’s chest. Something is definitely not right. “Hey, Hina, I--”

“Huh?” Hina jumps in surprise. “Oh my gosh, Sayo-chi! That's so boppin’!”

“What? What is?” 

Hina absolutely beams at her. “You called me by my name! Aww, that's so sweet! Haha, you really are getting more confident lately.”

“Why wouldn't I?”

“Well, you usually just call me ‘Onee-chan’, don't you?”

Sayo feels her heart stop. 

Oh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *30 year old youtuber that lives in his mom’s basement voice* SUBSCRIBE FOR PART TWO GUYS!!! KEK CAN WE GET A HUNDRED UPVOTES IN HERE (but seriously i will probably continue this if even only like 3 or so people enjoy it. i have a general plan for what to do but idk people on this site seem to hate tropes)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> new chapter finally.... after all these years............

“Sayo-chi?? Sayo-chi, are you okay?”

Sayo blinks a few times, letting her eyes gradually get accustomed to the light. Her vision is a bit hazy but she can make out the worried face of her younger (older?) sister above her.

“Sayo-chiii! I'm so glad you're awake! What happened? Did you drink enough water? Are you sick?”

“Ah, sorry, Hina… onee…”

Hina smiles and grabs Sayo’s hands. “Don't worry about it! I'm just happy everything turned out fine.”

Sayo nods silently, trying to seem as calm as possible. Which she was very much not.

Okay, so she's in a world where Hina was born first. What is going on? Is this a dream? Sayo recalls last night. Everything was normal then. Hina acted as she always did, calling Sayo ‘Onee-chan’ and being excited and dorky. No, this was definitely a dream. Everything got weird when she ‘woke up’ this morning.

So what would she do now? Just try to wake up for real? She probably could, but…. Sayo doesn't quite think that's right. Everything happens for a reason, so there must be a reason for her being here.

*Ah… Hina-onee…” she asks tentatively.

“Yeah?”

Sayo pauses, trying to find an excuse to start a conversation. “May I see the poster for tuesday's concert?” she asks hesitantly.

“Oh, yeah! Of course!” Hina grins and shuffles a few papers around. She pulls out a larger sheet and proudly hold it up for Sayo to see.

The poster is pretty cute, Sayo has to admit. The five members of Pastel Palettes are gathered in a circle, spreading their arms to the sky. Among the clouds is the band’s logo and an address below that, presumably the venue. The starry background is abstract enough to not divert too much attention from the rest of the poster but detailed enough to be interesting when you focus on it. Strangely, there are various cube shapes around the border.

Sayo points to the cubes. “What are…?”

“Those are our blocks!” Hina says proudly. Ah, Minecraft. “Aya-chan is pink wool because she's soft and fluffy! I mean hair is but also her personality! She's also unique and not something you'd find in nature, like sheep don't spawn pink!

“Eve-chan is nether bricks because she is both sturdy and pretty! Plus it's the same colour as her dress. Well, I guess her dress is lavender and the bricks are magenta, but they're both kinds of purple, y’know?”

Magenta is more of a pink, Sayo thinks, but she continues to listen.

“Maya-chan is a slime block. Chisato tried to lecture her on how that's not a good block for an idol to present themselves with, but Maya insisted it would be fine. I agree, I think slime blocks are pretty cute!

“Speaking of Chisato, she chose a very logical block of course. Hehe, pure gold! Perfect for a celebrity of her caliber.”

Sayo points to the remaining block. “What's this one? That's you, right?”

Hina smiles. “Oh, that? It's a sea lantern. I think of myself as one because I think of you as a prismarine block. They're connected through the sea and they're interdependent.”

“...Like us,” Sayo says, almost asking it like a question.

“That's right!”

So in this universe, she and Hina are closer. That's… really nice, actually. Whenever the two of them try to go places or do sisterly activities it usually ends up awkward and emotional. As long as she's stuck here, Sayo might try hanging out with Hina more.

Sayo looks back at the poster and smiles. “I like it a lot, Hina-onee. I can tell you put a lot of work into it.”

Hina looks very excited. “Do you think the others will like it?” she asked.

“I'm sure they will.”

Hina giggles. “You're so sweet, Sayo-chi. Listen, I gotta go to the agency soon, but I'll be back in the afternoon, alright?”

“Yes, of course. Have a good time.”

Hina smiles one last time and gets up to leave. A few moments later, Sayo hears a car start in the garage. Since when did Hina have a license? She always complained that she didn't need one and that driving’s boring. Maybe being older made her more responsible.

Now that Hina’s gone, what is there for Sayo to do? She has nothing to do on a saturday morning, even in her own universe. She could hardly imagine younger Sayo to have any more responsibilities than older Sayo does.

Sayo remembers how different her bedroom was upon waking up, and wonders about the other rooms. Might as well explore the house. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mfw i havent updated this in forever... sorry

Sayo begins her house exploration by returning to the room where she first awoke. While in her universe her room is sorta dreary, it's brighter here. The window curtains are a light shade of teal, as opposed to the dark blue they used to be. It was also a little messier, but a nice kinda messy. Like it'd been thoroughly lived in, as opposed to merely survived in. 

The living room, in a strange contrast to Sayo’s room, is neater than before. Usually there was Hina's things strewn about the floor, all those snacks and stuff, but Sayo supposes Hina's added responsibility in this universe made her clean up after herself. 

She wanders around the house with a sort of vague interest, looking at everything, similarities and differences, but not quite caring too much. 

Eventually she finds herself in Hina’s room. 

There's a photograph on the nightstand. It's a picture of her and her sister. Hina has on her signature teal bikini, Sayo doesn't even have to look very close to tell. 

…What the hell was Sayo wearing? Looking closer, she sees it's a matching bikini to Hina’s. Sayo realizes this is a picture from their beach trip a few years ago. Her Hina has the same picture in her room, except Sayo looks a lot more disgruntled and the swimsuits were different. It really wasn't a good picture in her universe, but this version was kinda cute.

Were there more cute pictures like this? Sayo opens the drawer of the nightstand. She feels like maybe she shouldn't be going through her sister's things, but the guilt is momentary. 

She finds a scrapbook with various photos of the twins smiling and laughing. At festivals, in the park, at the pool…. It was sweet. And although Sayo feels happy seeing her and Hina so close, it makes her heart sink. 

Would real life be like this if Sayo was born second? Is that all that seperates them? Sayo can't help but feel even worse. She knew deep down that it was her and her inferiority complex keeping Hina away. Hina wanted to be sisters again, and Sayo wasn't letting it happen. 

Before Sayo’s thoughts go any further, the door creaks open. “Sayo-chi?”

Sayo drops the scrapbook in surprise. “Hina!” she exclaims. “Sorry, I just…”

“It's ok! I said you can look at our scrapbook whenever you want, remember? So don't feel bad.” Hina stands there in the doorway with a small smile. 

“Hina-onee… Do you wanna play Minecraft?” Sayo blurts out. It was the only videogame she could think of off the top of her head. 

“Oh! Sure!” Hina looks very happy. “I'll go get our LAN world set up while you get your computer!” She bounces out the door, presumably downstairs. 

“My computer…?” Sayo echoes under her breath. Should be in her bedroom, right? Unlike Hina, who keeps hers in the living room. She heads to the room next door. 

Sayo explored this place earlier, but it was still shocking how significantly less tidy it was than her other room. She sighs, looking at the mess of clothes on the floor. Sayo heads over to her desk, but to her surprise, the computer isn't there. 

Turning in circles, Sayo scans the room in slight panic. Where would she have left her computer if she was younger and less responsible? Hesitantly, Sayo looks down. 

The computer is sitting on the floor next to her bed. Sayo sighs. “This world’s me needs to get her priorities in order.” She shakes her head and picks up the laptop. 

Downstairs, Hina is setting up the router. The wifi in their house always sucks. Sayo approaches her and puts her computer down next to Hina’s. 

Hina beams at her. “Sayo-chi! How's it going?”

“Good,” Sayo replies. She doesn't really know how to play Minecraft, she realizes. Well, there's nothing quite like immersion learning. 

* * *

Sayo’s so absorbed in the game that she hardly notices Hina tapping her shoulder. “Sayo-chi. Sayo-chi.”

“Ah--!” Sayo exclaims. “What is it, Hina?”

“We've been playing for a while. It's dinner time.”

“Oh, of course,” Sayo replies. She's a bit amused. If this were her world, the situation would be completely reversed. Her Hina would be distracted, and Sayo would have to remind her to eat. 

They log out and walk to the kitchen. The atmosphere is warm and loving. Sayo almost feels bitter. Why couldn't her world be like this? Playing Minecraft with her sister, sharing these moments, matching swimsuits… 

Sayo zones back in to Hina repeating her nickname again. They've already sat down, and Hina was eating. 

“Sayo-chi?” Hina asks. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I guess playing Minecraft for so long has me tired,” Sayo replies. 

“Hehe, you think a zombie will come through the door? Don't worry! I'll protect you!” Hina brandishes her fork. 

“Yes, you do well at protecting me. Thank you.”

Hina chuckles. “If you weren't so stubborn, you could take my diamonds and protect yourself with an awesome sword!”

Sayo smiles. “I prefer to mine my own diamonds, thanks.”

They both laugh, and it's enough to curb the bitterness Sayo feels. If this is what this world is like, maybe Sayo doesn't wanna go back. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [You Can Always Count On Your Onee-Chan](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264983) by [ruff_ethereal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruff_ethereal/pseuds/ruff_ethereal)


End file.
